With all of the international events and hoopla surrounding Barcelona tech startups and mobile ventures, sometimes we overlook the fact that we are also a global epicenter of biomedical research and innovation. It’s not like they’ve been hiding. Thousands of scientists, researches, academics and PhDs cycle through Barcelona every year working the next generation of medical breakthroughs and scientific advancement.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the investment world is descending on the biomedical breakthroughs by building funding vehicles to accelerate market entrance and product scalability. Last week, Barcelona’s very own Ysios Capital opened fundraising for BioFund II, a €100M fund that will support biomedical and life science companies that are working on breakthrough technologies and disruptive products in the pharmaceutical and diagnostic arenas.

The fund, which will back companies in both Europe and North America, is the second by Ysios. BioFund I, launched in 2008, has 3 successful exits and returned capital gains to their investors in each of the last three years. The most notable was their BioVex exit to Amgen for up to $1 billion in January 2011.

“Life sciences continue to be a very attractive sector for specialized investors“, said Joël Jean-Mairet, managing partner at Ysios Capital. “Today’s national healthcare systems face significant and growing challenges, including an aging population, reimbursement challenges and still a very significant number of unmet medical needs. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry still has unsustainable research and development productivity. These challenges create a tremendous opportunity for innovation.”

The recently announced BioFund II will co-invest with other international investors and corporate VCs to build a portfolio of up to 15 companies in the life sciences and medical technology fields.

More about Ysios Capital:

Ysios Capital is an independent venture capital firm providing private equity financing to biotechnology and human healthcare companies with special focus on diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Ysios launched the first Ysios BioFund I in 2008 with €69 million in funding. To date, Ysios has invested in 10 ventures, and has successfully exited from BioVex (Amgen exit for up to €1 billion), Endosense (acquired by St. Jude Medical for up to 325 million CHF), and floated adult stem cell therapy company Cellerix on the NYSE Euronext Brussels. The current portfolio of BioFund I includes AM-Pharma (The Netherlands), Cardoz (Sweden), CVRx (United States), Inbiomotion (Spain), Medlumics (Spain), STAT-Diagnostica (Spain) and TIG:BB Tigenix (Belgium). For more information about Ysios and their portfolio companies, visit www.ysioscapital.com.

About Scott Mackin

Scott Mackin started Barcinno in 2012 to create and share quality, organic content telling the stories of the entrepreneurial community in Barcelona and to build a platform for startups looking for international exposure. Scott is an MBA graduate of the University of San Diego and works at Bourbon Creative providing brand strategy and content marketing to growing companies. Follow him @ScottJMackin or on LinkedIn.